Product of Labor

a use-value; a natural substance adapted for human use by the labor of a worker, by means of the instruments of production. The product of labor represents the material result of a person’s labor.

Processed during production, the objects of labor change in form and become products of labor, which fall into two categories: the means of production and consumer goods. The means of production (machinery, raw materials, and other materials) are used in production. Consumer goods, including food, clothing, and footwear, are for individual or personal use.

A product of labor may be used in various ways. For example, grain may serve as a raw material at a mill or distillery, as fodder on a livestock farm, or as seed. A ready-to-use product of labor may become a raw material for the manufacture of another product. For example, grapes are used in wine-making. Whether a specific use-value serves as a raw material, a means of labor, or a product of labor depends entirely on its particular function and place in the labor process.

In the context of commodity production, a product of labor is made to be sold—that is, it becomes a commodity, with an exchange value, as well as a use-value. Under capitalism the owners of the products of labor are not the workers, who create the products, but the capitalists, who own the means of production. In socialist society, where social ownership of the means of production prevails, the products of labor belong to the working people.